Tuesday, January 03, 2012

Trip home - 6 years Post-K

Here are photos of where we graduated; where i took one of my entrance exams for Franklin; and where my step-brother attended high school. A very thorough demolition of JFK.




Made me wonder if there's some web page that lists the notable entities in New Orleans that have been torn down plus those that did not re-open. I know that wikipedia has a list of schools that did not reopen, but it does not list which ones have been demolished. My other step-brother has a brick from Jean Gordon, and he showed me his archaeological investigation: the outer layer is painted blue, but below that you could still see the beige paint from his era. I know that Charity Hospital and the Municipal Auditorium have not re-opened and will not for the foreseeable future, but the Performing Arts center has been back for a couple of years.

Actually i stumbled across JFK's rubble after I spent most of the day visiting Bywater - I was unsuccessfully trying to cross the Florida Avenue bridge, and noticed a new housing development to the west of Poland Avenue. I knew that Desire Projects had been torn down, but had no idea that they had been replaced by a Metarie looking housing development.



in large part because my first cousin once removed had an art showing at The Front. Unfortunately the front is only open from noon to five on weekends, and the establishment is so arty that it posts neither days nor hours that it is open. Even the website itself does not make it easy to find its hours - thankfully there's always Gambit.


Still I would recommend the journey to bywater, if for no other reason than to visit the Healing Center: a combination art gallery, Maple Leaf Book store (guess once Franklin moved they had to branch out), yoga studio, green business, and Mediterranean restaurant (can highly recommend Fatoush).
As an example of their art, here's their exhibit for the one million bones collaborative art installation - installed on the roof.


Of course no trip home is complete without the obligatory drive through ravaged areas to see how they are recovering. Obviously no surprise to see still abandoned houses in the Upper 9th,


and lower 9th



but it is surprising to see an obviously unlived in though still wanted (?) house in Gentilly - this is from Mirabeau Avenue near the London Avenue canal.



On the brighter side, City Park itself is doing well, especially NOMA's sculpture garden.





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